07/05/2010

Oh, The Irony…

Just in case you hadn’t already guessed, the title of this blog is meant to be ironic. Not the most jaw-droppingly clever use of the English language, but there’s at least a reasonable chance that it was largely responsible for the fact that you’re still here and still reading.

But before you snort derisively at the cheap, attention-grabbing habits of the author and ‘Back Button’ him, please allow him a second to pitch his philosophy to you.

I began writing this blog for two reasons. The first reason is a personal, long-held and recently-resurfaced aspiration to be a journalist, coupled with the realisation that I had not written anything at all for some time and the sudden, accompanying dread that I might just have forgotten how to. If practice does indeed make perfect, then logic leads me to believe that my lack of practice must have rendered me virtually illiterate by now.

My second motivation is in some ways similarly self-centred, yet simultaneously more altruistic. I will be 23 years old this month. It has dawned on me, during the particularly turbulent and uncertain life period which has, so far, comprised September 2009 to May 2010, that young adult life is altogether more complicated and tumultuous than my parents, teachers, lecturers or other assorted role models could ever have prepared me for; the smooth transition from undergraduate to graduate to content employee never materialised for me personally, nor did it for my close friends. We’re all unemployed, we’re all in a monstrous amount of debt and we’re all more than a bit pissed off: that the degree parchments for which we toiled so hard and the diligent, polite, professional demeanours which we have conscientiously upheld through our various interviews (should we be lucky enough to be offered one) seem–at this point in time–to count for nought.

In short, I felt the need to vent. In addition, I felt the need to connect with other young adults who might be experiencing the same aspirations/frustrations as myself. Finally, I wanted to offer a supportive hand-on-shoulder to those in the same boat; as a current part-time student of counselling and psychotherapy, I’m feeling pretty empathetic, despite it all.

So please, if you wish to share any thoughts on the broad general topic of young adulthood, or if you have any pearls of wisdom for the rest of us who are struggling to navigate the minefield of our twenty-somethings on the long road to career satisfaction, home ownership and the other tantalising promises of middle age, then do. Or indeed, if you wish to read the same, please keep checking back for updates.